The Stray Ferret Business Awards will be held on March 9 at the Pavilions of Harrogate. The event will be a celebratory night with prize draw and afterparty. Richard Flinton, the chief executive of the new North Yorkshire Council is the guest speaker. Early bird ticket prices are available until February 9 and available to buy here. Bring your team, network and have fun. 

Harrogate’s Windsor House has opened a dedicated yoga and pilates studio for tenants.

Towards the end of last year, Boultbee Brookes – owners of the former Grand Hotel which is now home to more than 115 businesses – trialled lunchtime yoga classes..

As a result, the company has now created a dedicated yoga and Pilates studio, where two instructors are offering morning, lunchtime and evening classes, four times a week to its tenants.

Karen Winspear, Boultbee Brooks’ building manager for Windsor House, said: 

“When we introduced a weekly yoga class, we weren’t sure just how popular it would be.

“It proved to be a great success, and that led to us taking the step to not only increase the number of yoga classes, but to also introduce Pilates classes.

“We have created our own studio, and I’m delighted to announce that regular classes, led by Jess Barnard, for yoga, and Fern Summerton, for Pilates are now in full swing.”

Further information about Windsor House can be found at its website here.

New Harrogate business group launched to support women

Pictured from left are Carol Beeley and Sarah Shaw from LWL Harrogate and Jan Moxham of Lilypad Restaurant.

A new business group has been launched in Harrogate aimed at offering professional support and friendship to women working in the area.

Part of the nationwide Ladies Who Latte (LWL) network, the group is free to attend and open to all women who are in employment, own a business or are starting a business.

The group will meet at Lilypad restaurant on King’s Road between 9.30am and 11.30am on the second Wednesday of every month, with the first event on February 8. 

It is being led by Carol Beeley, director of On The Spot Accountants, and Sarah Shaw, a European strategy consultant with WEConnect International.

Ms Shaw said:

“If you’ve always been nervous about networking, or are looking to meet like-minded working women in an open and relaxed setting, please do come along.

“Even if you can only spare half an hour to drop by for a quick coffee, you’ll be given a warm welcome.”

LWL is for women who want to build a professional, local support network and feel part of a business community. It offers them the opportunity to promote themselves while sharing their knowledge and passion with others, gaining inspiration and confidence to drive their ambitions and business forward.

For more information on Ladies Who Latte, visit the group’s website here.

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A Harrogate pilates instructor will embark on a personal mission later this month to strike back at the cancer that saw her husband rushed to A&E, fighting for his life. 

Eugenie Keogh will hold a marathon 18-hour pilates session on Zoom from her studio at North Rigton, to raise awareness of the symptoms of leukaemia, a cancer of the blood which kills around 13 people every day in the UK. 

“The early diagnosis of leukaemia remains elusive because the symptoms are often overlooked, and the disease only diagnosed when a person ends up at A&E department struggling for life,” she said.

Eugenie’s husband Stephen was rushed to Harrogate A&E last summer with a combination of classic leukaemia symptoms: shortness of breath, extreme fatigue, a skin rash, an ulcerated mouth, frequent nose bleeds and night sweats. The couple were left “completely traumatised” when the aggressive blood cancer Acute Myloid Leukaemia (AML) was diagnosed.

In the weeks before, Stephen had sought medical help about individual symptoms, but these had not been linked or resulted in a blood test.

Eugenie said: “This resulted in a late diagnosis for Stephen, which is why I am supporting the campaign to raise awareness among GPs about blood cancer symptoms. The earlier the disease is spotted, the better the chance of effective treatment, prognosis and quality of life.”

Stephen has responded well to the treatment regime for AML and is now awaiting a bone marrow stem-cell transplant. 

“This is the only chance for me to achieve complete remission and hopefully a cure,” he said.

Eugenie Keogh is a qualified APPI instructor and operates one-to-one and Zoom online classes from her Body & Soul Pilates studio in North Rigton near Harrogate.

As well as raising awareness, Eugenie’s pilates marathon on Zoom on January 29 will also raise funds for Leukaemia UK, a charity that works to fund innovative research and support those affected by leukaemia blood cancers. Well-wishers can support her campaign at her Just Giving page.

Anyone making a donation will also be invited to keep Eugenie company by logging on at any time for any of the pilates sessions, which will start on the hour every hour from 6am, with the last session ending at midnight.

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A fitness studio in central Harrogate has closed today with immediate effect.

Lear, on Montpellier Street, offered pilates classes, along with personal training, physiotherapy and sports massage.

However, a message sent to customers at lunchtime today said:

“With great sadness and regret, we have had to close Lear Harrogate with immediate effect.

“All classes and appointments from today onwards have been cancelled.”

There was no further information provided, but the Harrogate branch’s social media accounts have all been closed. Reference to the Harrogate studio has also been removed from the Lear health partners website.

The business’ other branch, in Leamington Spa, appears to be trading still, and has posted on social media in the last few days.

It is not known whether any jobs have been lost as a result of the closure, nor whether any members have lost out on sessions they had already paid for.

The Stray Ferret contacted the parent company for a comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.

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Lear Harrogate offered membership packages for £99 and £139 a month, as well as pay-as-you-go options including pilates classes at £19 each.

Earlier this year, a planning application was submitted to turn the ground floor of the building into retail space, with 11 new one-bedroom apartments on the first and second floors, as well as a new third floor.

However, new plans were submitted in December showing the number of apartments had been reduced to eight, on the first and second floors only.

The third floor and roof terrace were no longer planned, with a “high performance ‘warm roof’ built up flat roof” instead. The number of windows on the first and second floors had also been reduced.

A three-storey boutique “wellness venue” is set to officially open in Harrogate town centre tomorrow.

Ebru Evrim will offer daily classes and workshops in yoga and Pilates in the former Laura Ashley premises, on James Street.

It follows a 4,000 sq ft refurbishment thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign, which saw more than £300,000 raised.

A launch party, featuring food from Hustle & Co, took place at the venue last night and guests were given a tour around the building.

The third floor.

Ebru Evrim is the name of the brand’s founder and owner, who moved over from Istanbul in 2015.

She began to teach  yoga and pilates in village halls in the Yorkshire Dales, before launching her first studio in Skipton.

Apparatus in one of the studios.

Following its success, Ms Evrim looked to Harrogate as a vibrant spa town already famed for championing wellness.

Ms Evrim, who also runs wellness holidays and yoga retreats, said:

“I’m so happy I think we are unique and I’m super excited to bring some healthy living to Harrogate. And I’m excited to introduce ourselves, our teachers and our services. I think it’s going to be great. I can’t wait.

“I was so lucky to find this place. We still have some work on the building to complete, but it has all been done by local tradesmen.

“The location is amazing. I’m so grateful to be given the opportunity to open this venue. Life is short and I want to give something good to this place.”

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On the ground floor shop-front, Ms Evrim’s own-branded boutique fitness clothing is on sale.

On the second floor, state-of-the-art Pilates reformer apparatus will be in place. The machines are being made in California and were expected in April. However, they are now unlikely to arrive until September as a result of shipping delays.

Apparatus in one of the studios.

The apparatus will be alongside a space for working with clients requiring specialist therapy for conditions such as lower back, scoliosis, arthritis and osteoporosis. The floor also features showers and changing rooms.

The third floor, complete with industrial-style exposed brick walls and ambient lighting, provides space for yoga and Pilates classes with 30 mats and underfloor heating.

There will also be a cafe on the ground floor, offering snacks and healthy food, which is set to open in a month’s time.

Classes will begin tomorrow from 9am.

A day of free events in Harrogate will promote wellbeing to mark the beginning of Stress Awareness Month next weekend.

The Festival of Wellbeing on Saturday, April 2 will include pilates, yoga, barre, and nutrition sessions hosted by the company OneWellness at its studio on Mowbray Square.

It is the third time the festival has been held and aims to boost participants’ moods as well as increasing their energy levels through activities as part of a group.

Alasdair Everest-Ford, head of OneWellness, said:

‘’Lack of support can cause loneliness and isolation, lowering personal wellbeing and impacting people’s health.

“At OneWellness, we believe community support should continue during and beyond challenging times. A community is much more than just a group of people; it’s about connection, having fun, and feel supported and accepted.”

The day will also feature Rose Petal Tea Room from Knaresborough, Sweaty Betty, and The Body Shop. It will raise money for mental health charity Mind, including through donations as part of a series of fitness challenges.

For more information or to book a place on one of the sessions, click here.

A Pilates and yoga studio aimed at bringing “a London feel” to Harrogate has opened in an old chapel on Skipton Road.

Alicja Palutkiewicz, launched Empowered Movement Space, which specialises in Reformer Pilates, after spending years teaching in community centres, halls and gyms across district.

Ms Palutkiewicz, who is originally from Poland and has lived in Harrogate for 14 years, started instructing Pilates in 2015, before qualifying as a yoga teacher a few years later.

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She said:

“I decided to open this studio to create a relaxed environment for my students where they can come along, socialise, meet like-minded people, move their bodies and clear their mind.

“Also I wanted to be able to teach from one place, have all my equipment stored there and ready to use whenever needed.”

The studio, based at The Old Chapel, offers mat Pilates, Reformer Pilates and yoga classes, as well as private one-to-one sessions.

The new studio is based in The Old Chapel on Skipton Road, Harrogate.

Ms Palutkiewicz said:

“I am a big fan of Reformer Pilates. I have had one Reformer for numbers of years and was teaching private classes only.

“It’s an amazing piece of apparatus and having a space in a studio allows me to have four of them and make it more accessible for everyone to join and try it.

“Also, when I was looking for a Reformer class, I felt there wasn’t one in Harrogate so I had to travel to Leeds to attend one.

“The main difference between mat and Reformer is that you work with your body weight on a mat and against the spring tension on Reformer, so it is more suitable for people with injuries.”

The Reformer Pilates machines in action.

Ms Palutkiewicz said the old church in which the studio is based provided lots of space and a “really good atmosphere”.

She added:

“I hope my studio will bring a little bit of a ‘London feel’ to Harrogate, as nearly every Pilates studio in London is equipped with Reformers.”